JULY 7, 1981 — MARCH, 2022
40 YEARS, PHOTOGRAPHER, JOURNALIST
Maksym Levin was a Ukrainian photo-journalist and documentary filmmaker. Russia took his life after the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Maksym fell of the grid on March 13, with his dead body found on April 1 near the village Huta-Mezhyhirska, to the north of Kyiv. A Russian serviceman fired two shots from assault rifle at the reporter. Maksym was unarmed.
In the first five days of the war, Maksym published photo reports from several hot spots: Kharkiv, Irpin, Bucha, Borodianka, Zhytomyr. He documented on camera the evacuation of people from the towns under shelling.
He wanted to change the course of war with his photographs. To make the world see the atrocities Russia commits. Most of his projects covered the war in Donbas, which started back in 2014. Back then, Maksym felt he had to be on the ground, in the thick of it. He often rubbed shoulders with death. With camera in hand, he barely managed to escape the Illiovaisk encirclement.
Maksym gained his professional experience with «Gazeta 24». He was a freelance reporter for publications like «Fokus», «Profil», «Ukraiinskyi tyzhden», news agencies Associated Press, Reuters, BBC, TRT World, Hromadske. He had dedicated 10 years to working with LB.ua.
Maksym was born on July 7, 1981 in Boiarka, Kyiv region. He had dreamt of becoming a photographer since he was 15. Attended a class on photography. He used a single-lens reflex camera «Kyiv-98». He was a documentary filmmaker and camera operator for many Ukrainian and international publications.
Aside from his professional work, he contributed multiple photos and video materials to numerous humanitarian organizations like World Health Organization (WHO), the UN, UNICEF, OSCE, UN Woman. Maksym’s images had been published by a number of foreign outlets.
The journalist is survived by four sons. He used to call them the restless bunch. He named them with ancient Ukrainian names, just the way he liked. He had a personal project on the side, a fathers’ club where he inspired other dads to be the heroes for their kids. All of his heroic photo-journalism projects go beyond mere professionalism, they were deeply personal as well. «I want them to be proud of the daddy» — was what Maksym aspired to.
Every Ukrainian photographer dreams of making a photo that stops the war. So did Maksym. Maksym Levin used to say that Ukrainians have an all-purpose turn of phrase, «for what?» «For what is this war? — the photographer asked — We are not like the Russians at all. The war since 2014, and Maidan prior to that have changed Ukraine and Ukrainians tremendously. The war of 2022 was inevitable. It is impossible to live through it and fail to understand it. I feel it in my bones. I used to catch myself holding my breath when I heard the lyrics to the national anthem of Ukraine. For what, Russia?».
